Learning no longer has to stop

we are often forced to ask students to put their learning on hold … if not stop it all together while they compete for resources.

That is a topic for next year. STOP

Today’s lesson is on page 43. Turn to that page and do only questions 4 and 5. STOP

We will not have time for you to explore that. STOP

If you want to borrow that book, put your name on the request list and when it is free you can borrow it. STOP

You will have to wait until I have time to come sit with you. STOP

As long as student knowledge acquisition is limited to books, and the one teacher in the classroom, there will always be a need for learning to STOP. Students will need to stop while they wait for the attention of the teacher. They will need to stop while they wait for the book. They will need to stop when they get to the end of the book. They will need to stop because learning is too big of a job for students to do completely on their own.

5 Responses to “Learning no longer has to stop”

Thanks for the link. Even when some of the physical limitations are removed, students still have dependency issues in their learning. The teachers have always told them the answer. I have high school Seniors who will STOP and wait to ask me a googleable question….even after i have been pushing them to use the iPads & laptops we have in the classroom and phones they have in their pockets

Is that a dependency issue? Or would the students just prefer to interact with a human being? A web site does not care if they understand, and does not ask follow up questions, or give examples that the students can relate to. It does not make connections, or call up prior discussions and make connections. It does not care if it engages their curiosity, nor does it necessarily provide level appropriate areas of additional exploration. There were plenty of “There’s the encyclopedia, go look it up” teachers when I was growing up, and I spent plenty of time doing just that, but I would never consider any of those great teachers.

I would have to agree. Even way back in the day when I was in high school, the teachers who weren’t at all memorable were those who gave you the material and said “now go learn it”. The most I ever leaned in school was with direct attention from the teacher, even if it was something as simple as looking at what I was working on as they walked by my desk and saying, “have you considered trying it this way?” and offering a suggestion. Yes, the internet provides an unlimited wealth of information that will open up a wealth of opportunities that students wouldn’t have otherwise, but that doesn’t do anything to help the human element of having the teacher there. Technology, no matter how advanced it gets, can’t replace human contact. The frequent use of co-teaching that I see in classrooms is a step in the right direction, but it is only a step.

So I’d be interested in ideas on turning STOP to START. I have a first grader and a third grader and while I’m generally encouraged by the public education that they’re getting (with my participation) it still takes some prodding to get them to dive into topics on their own. Connecting results with effort is part of the process of maturing – would love to see schools do a more proactive job in actively encouraging this growth.

Hey Scott, my name is Ryan Crabel and I am a sophomore student at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I just wanted to say that I enjoyed reading this post of yours. It opened my eyes to a few dangerous that arise from a classroom with no technology used in them. The Practicum class I am taking this spring in conjoined with a technology lab. With what I learn in lab I hope to take with me as I become an educator so i can make sure to never STOP my students learning.